Science Education Futures Research: It’s About the Present! Your Move

The paradox of future research is that it is about the present. To position future research as being primarily about anticipating, predicting or proposing alternative futures, misses its fundamental purpose. Certainly, it requires visions of varied alternative futures but a key purpose of the work is to understand the present; to see it with fresh eyes and an open mind informed by future perspectives.

Imagine yourself in the hustle and bustle of a city, embedded in the usual daily activities surrounded by towering buildings; absorbed by the moment and seeking to find your way. You may take familiar well-trodden paths, without questioning the destination, or you may seek alternative routes. Now imagine panning back, rising higher and higher so that you can see the whole city including your location in it. Imagine the scene as if viewed from a hilltop lookout. From this perspective, you see things very differently.

Continue thinking about the view of this city as you move even higher...